Today's Mobile Minute brings you coverage on Cameroon's ban on mobile Twitter access, NielsenWire's new smartphone statistics, a $650 million loan to Etisalat Nigeria to grow its mobile network coverage, the possible expansion of BlackBerry Messenger to non-RIM operating systems, and an investment in the company that makes the Angry Birds mobile app. (Disclosure: We are partial to Angry Birds)
- Cameroon's government has ordered mobile network operator MTN to block SMS-based Twitter in Cameroon. According to Cellular-News, this was done in response to possible protests being organized by the country's political opposition group.
- NielsenWire has new statistics tracking the popularity of different operating systems and manufacturers in the U.S. smartphone industry. NielsenWire reports, "When it comes to consumer marketshare by operating system, Android (29%) appears to be pulling ahead of RIM Blackberry (27%) and Apple iOS (27%). But an analysis by manufacturer shows RIM and Apple to be the winners compared to other device makers since they are the only ones creating and selling smartphones with their respective operating systems." The article also has charts breaking down the most popular operating systems by age of users and by manufacturer.
- The network operator Etisalat Nigeria has received a $650 million loan to develop 2G and 3G network services across the country. The loan came from a pool of eight local Nigerian banks, and will be used to expand network coverage by building up mobile infrastructure.
- Research in Motion is reportedly preparing to launch BlackBerry Messenger as an app on other operating systems, namely Android and iOS. Although there are not yet details about a release date or cost of the service, the move would allow non-BlackBerry owners to use the instant messaging service.
- Rovio Mobile, the company that developed the popular mobile game Angry Birds, raised $42 million in venture capital to develop more franchises around the game and to develop more mobile games.
[Mobile Minute Disclaimer: The Mobile Minute is a quick round-up of interesting stories that have come across our RSS and Twitter feeds to keep you informed of the rapid pace of innovation. Read them and enjoy them, but know that we have not deeply investigated these news items. For more in-depth information about the ever-growing field of mobile tech for social change, check out our blog posts, white papers and research, how-tos, and case studies.]
Image courtesy Flickr user QiFei
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